Germany’s incoming government has conditionally endorsed the European Union’s proposed 2040 climate goal and backed the European Commission’s recommended 90% emissions reduction target but only if international carbon offsets and carbon removals are permitted.

The EC issued a 144-page coalition agreement published on April 17 between the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), following the CDU’s victory in February’s snap election. The agreement remains subject to approval by the SPD’s more than 300,000 members.

However, as Europe’s competitiveness falls behind the US and China, as outlined in the report from former Italian Prime Minister and ex-European Central Bank boss Mario Draghi last year, the EC has watered down its commitment to its green agenda and is attempting to push off some of the responsibility to reduce emissions to its trade partners.

The new coalition reaffirms Germany’s national goal of reaching climate neutrality by 2045. However, Berlin’s support for the 2040 EU-wide target is tied to key conditions: member states must be allowed to use international carbon credits and count permanent carbon removals toward their contributions. That means shifting the responsibility for reducing emissions to trade partner states and away from German industry.

Under the proposed terms, countries could meet part of their climate obligations by funding emissions reductions outside the EU. The coalition agreement limits this approach to a “maximum 3 percentage points of the 2040 target”, and states that credits must be certified, lead to permanent emissions reductions, and meet high-quality standards, but cost of reducing emissions would be bourne by the partners and not Germany.

Environmental campaigners and green EU lawmakers have criticised the move. “Using such credits would undermine the credibility of our climate policies and unduly shift responsibility onto other nations,” Tiemo Wölken, an SPD MEP told Politico. “This would open up tremendous loopholes instead of enabling emissions reductions at home.”

Politico reported in March that the European Commission had initiated discussions with governments and legislators on potentially allowing the use of international offsets in meeting EU climate targets. The revelation prompted concerns from climate advocates across the bloc.

The German coalition also supports incorporating both carbon removals and international credits into the EU Emissions Trading System and the bloc’s overarching Climate Law.

The coalition intends to explore conventional gas production in Germany but omits any mention of nuclear power, despite CDU campaign pledges to revive atomic energy. The government will abolish the contentious clean heating law introduced by the previous administration and replace it with a revised version. The original law, praised by the International Energy Agency as a “significant achievement”, would have banned fossil-fuel heating systems from 2045.